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What we learned on WWE 'Raw': AJ Styles clashes with John Cena

John Cena returns, AJ Styles meets up with some old friends as the McMahons — and The New Day — dance the night away on WWE Raw.

WWE.com

Written ByBrian Fritz

No one should have expected much from Raw on Monday night. After all, it was airing on Memorial Day and holidays always hurt viewership of the WWE flagship program. Making it even worse was that it also went up against the highly anticipated Game 7 between the Warriors and Thunder.

So it's no surprise that the show has its share of hiccups. Shane and Stephanie McMahon tried to promote the upcoming brand split, which backfired and somehow ended in a dance routine. Roman Reigns once again bragged about being "the" guy with Seth Rollins teasing to fight him multiple times, only to walk away without saying a word.

The show did get on track during the second half with the return of John Cena as well as AJ Styles surprisingly reuniting with his old buddies. Several other rivalries got underway with the show capped off by a good wrestling match between Dean Ambrose, Sami Zayn, and Cesaro against Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio, and Chris Jericho.

Add to that another purplexing segment featuring the Women's champion Charlotte and a surprise appearance by Goldberg during the Raw broadcast — just not in a wrestling capacity.

All it all, it was quite the night in Green Bay. Here are the five things we learned from Raw on Monday night.

WWE

#1

The Club lives

Just last week, it seemed like the end of The Club after AJ Styles basically told offKarl Anderson and Luke Gallows as they went their separateways. Come to find out, it was one big, well-done swerve.

It was supposed to be John Cena's big night, returning from a shoulder injury that kepy him sidelined since last November.After hetalked about how his best days are not behind him and the "new era" will have to go through him, it was AJ Styles who came out to the delight of the audience. There was no sign of animosity as Styles praised Cena and even shook his hand.

Anderson and Gallows hit the scene, calling out Styles for sucking up to Cena. Just when it looked like there was going to be a fight between the two scenes, Styles surprised everyone byattackingCena.

Yes, The Club is still alive and the "Too Sweet" hand signs were flying. The three of them leftCena in a heap with Styles running back in several times to get a few more licks in before declaring,“I’m doing the world a favor. You’re welcome, world, you’re welcome!”

It was pretty shocking seeingStyles turning heel and staying with his former running mates but a welcome one at that. Now, this sets up Styles versus Cena at Money in the Bank in a few weeks and possibly a summer long feud between the two depending on what brands end up on following the upcoming draft.

Where does this leave Finn Balor and the heavily talked about Balor Club? The common thinking was that he would be the bad guy alongside Anderson and Gallows in a program against Styles. Who knows right now but it's a good wrinkle and there's a lot of different directions WWE can go here.

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#2

Shane and Stephanie don't know anything

It was big news last week when WWE announced that SmackDown is moving to Tuesdays and going live starting July 19 and there will be a brand split complete with a draft. Two brands, two rosters, two different shows.

WWE is working on their plans and maybe they have it all hatched out. It made sense that Shane and Stephanie McMahon were discussing it during the opening segment of Raw. Once The New Day came out to join in the segment, nothing made sense.

The tag team championsbegan peppering the McMahons with questions about how the brand split willwork. Rather than giving answers, they said nothing has been decided yet. They continually dodged questions and it was a complete waste of time as they had no answers to anything. If that wasn't bad enough, the segment inexplicablyended with The New Day dancing with Shane and Stephanie about to join in before The Vaudevillains interrupted.

Yes, this is how the three-hour show kicked off on a night where they were already behind the 8 ball with the NBA and NFL playoff games and it being Memorial Day. This was akin to the WWE telling you that nothing was going to happen and they were throwing their arms up in the air, surrending to the other shows in what was a ridiculous segment.

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#3

Goldberg coming to WWE game

WWE created some mystery and buzz over the past few weeks on social media, teasing a hatch and what — or who — was in it. Wouldn't you know it was for the upcoming WWE 2K17 video game.

The big reveal was former WCW Champion Goldberg is a downloadableplayer in the upcoming video game. It's a big deal considering that over the past few years both the Ultimate Warrior and Sting were in the same spot with bothgoing into the WWE Hall of Fame and Sting wrestling for the company, which he had never done to that point inhis illustrious career.

You have to think there is a real chance of the same happening for Goldberg sincehe wouldn't appear in the game without Vince McMahon's blessing. That doesn't mean a deal is finalized yet for Goldberg but it lays the groundwork for him to at least enter the Hall of Fame.

Goldberg didn't exactly leave the WWE on great terms back in 2004 following a one-year run with the company, which was not a rousing success. He's always said that he is open to having one more match but he doesn't come cheap and WWE would have to pony up to get him back in the ring.

Now, there's at least a real chance of it happening. Maybe.

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#4

Several new rivalries begin

John Cena versus AJ Styles isn't the only new feud that kicked off Monday's edition of Raw. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows kicked off a program with The New Day, attacking the tag team champions during their match against the Vaudevillians.

The move makes a lot of sense asthe The New Day needs some fresh opponents. The interesting thing will be how this is appoached since they are a comedy act and the last thing Gallows and Anderson need is to be dragged into that world. The better move would be to let The New Day get more serious about this threat and allow Anderson and Gallows to really get hot, especially with The Club back together.

Elsewhere, Rusev will now be feuding with Titus O'Neil over the United States Championship. Many thought with it being Memorial Day that the "Bulgarian Brute" would be challenged by Mr. America John Cena for the title. Instead, it was O'Neil speaking up for the red, white and blue after Rusev claimed he was a better American than anyone else.

Now, Money in the Bank is filling up with these matches to go along with the MITB match itself: Roman Reigns against Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship along withCena against Styles.

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#5

Charlotte thrown under the bus

We've all seen Stephanie McMahon emasculating just about anyone on the roster who has crossed paths with her. It never turns out well either since she's the boss and ends up doing what she wants with nothing coming back at her.It happened yet again on Raw in one of the most head-scratching segments in a while.

WWE aired a recap videoof Charlotte telling her legendary father Ric Flair that she doesn't need him anymore now that she's the Women's champion and wants all of the spotlight. Then in footage from earlier in the day, Stephanie run across Charlotte and decides to tell her off. She shame-screamed the champion for what she did to her dad the week prior, adding that she is embarassed that Charlotte is the champion and said she is a "waste of talent."

It was a bad place for the champion, who got no comeback whatsoever and was made to look like a weak fool. Unless this is setting up a future match, this did absolutely nothing for Charlotte as the heel champion who didn't even fight back and took it.

Adding to the nonsense is that just a few weeks ago, it was Stephanie slappingRic when he stood up for his daughter. And the always good Natalya recently wanted to see Charlotte make it without the help of her father. She did that and sent him away in true heel fashion because that's what she is: a nasty heel.

Rather than looking like a strong champ, Charlotte came off as a whimpering dog being put in her place, which iscounterproductive of what WWE should be doing, which ismaking the women's division stronger.